From a top bunk in a 12-person prison cell in Fort Dix, N.J., Martin Shkreli is at work on a big second act, the Wall Street Journal reported. Wielding little more than a contraband smartphone, the disgraced pharmaceutical executive remains the shadow power at Phoenixus AG, the drug company that became a national lightning rod for jacking up the prices of rare drugs under its former name, Turing Pharmaceuticals AG. Shkreli still helps call the shots: A few weeks ago he rang up his handpicked chief executive during a safari vacation — to fire him, according to a person familiar with the exchange. Shkreli is 16 months into a seven-year sentence for securities fraud. Shkreli’s continued involvement with Phoenixus, his private Swiss drug company operating out of Manhattan, could prove perilous. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has interviewed associates about his role there.
